A museum in Paris

Today's plan was to visit the Jacquesmart-Andre Museum on the Boulevard Haussmann, as recommended to Cate by her friend Pauline, and then a visit to Museum of Rodin, recommended by Tim's friend, James.

We were on our own because Birgit and Eric were still in London (of course) and so after a leisurely start to the day, we headed off to navigate the public transport.

We walked down to Gare du La Celle St Cloud through the local forest - it is genuinely a beautiful stroll through a real, old-growth forest - and got instructions from the helpful staff at the station about how to get to Paris-St-Lazarre. The train line is not operating from St Cloud through to La Celle St Cloud at present. We're not sure if it's track work or station repairs, or what, but the trains aren't running and there's a replacement bus (!).

A 'folly' we spotted as we rode the bus into St Cloud
An example of the exotic French architecture Cate and Tim like

So, we got the 460 bus to St Cloud, then bought tickets on the RER train to Gare St Lazarre, and then used Metro tickets bought at La Celle St Cloud to ride to Miromesnil. That took nearly two hours, given the slow all-stops bus trip, an unusually slow train ride, and then connecting time. However, it got us on the streets of Paris not far from the Museum of Jacquesmart-Andre.

Boulevard Haussmann

The museum was a wonder. An extraordinary mansion/chalet in the centre of Paris, preserved in it 19th century glory and filled with astonishing works of French and Italian art, focusing on the impressionists and the Venetian school from Italy.

After wandering around the museum for a few hours, we had lunch in the cafe embedded in the mansion. It was lovely too and the service was excellent. One of our waiting staff had visited Australia in the past and told us briefly about her time in Melbourne.

The main facade of the Museum Jacquesmart-Andrew

The main salon

In the boudior

The Music Room

The Winter Garden

The Chapel (1st floor)

Edouard Andre, the sponsor

A brilliant linear clock

As we walked back to Miromesnil, Cate was feeling sore and tired from all the activity over the last few days. The prospect of a bit of a walk after a hot metro ride to visit the Museum, and then the long public transport journey home, turned out to be a bit too much. So, we headed directly home and that still took us over two hours, mostly waiting for connections.

Tonight we had planned to host Birgit and Eric to dinner at a local restaurant. However, they have arrived home from London, fed on the train from an upgraded ticket (!) and so we are going to share a pizza and some wine, which will be just as much fun.

Tomorrow, Cate and Tim head off on the next sector of their European adventure - Norway!